Cardenas talks race results Daytona Sportbike Mid-Ohio

Martin Cardenas celebrated another podium finish in the AMA Daytona SportBike class on Sunday afternoon at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio (Round 8 – AMA Daytona Sportbike Series). The Colombian rider got a good start on his M4 Suzuki GSX-R600 and battled for the final podium position for the first half of the 21-lap race.

At about the mid-way point in the race, though, Cardenas took over third position and held on to the checkered flag. This result marks Cardenas’ ninth visit to the AMA Daytona SportBike podium this year, with six of those appearances being for victories. Sunday’s impressive performance was particularly important for Cardenas, considering that he suffered crashes in the previous two AMA Daytona SportBike races. Despite this unfortunate luck, Cardenas continues to lead the overall championship points standings in the AMA Daytona SportBike class.

Martin Cardenas Speaks… (3rd place, Race 2 on Sunday)

"It was a hard race for me because my confidence wasn’t very good after two races and two crashes. At the Laguna Seca crash, I really don’t know what happened. I wasn’t going any faster than on other laps so I don’t really know what happened there except that I lost the front. That’s all I know. Here (at Mid-Ohio), yesterday, I think I know what happened. I made a tighter line than on all the laps before and I lost the front again, so my confidence wasn’t really good."

"So, today third was the best I could do. These other guys were a little bit faster than me and I tried to stay with them, but about five laps from the end I made a mistake and I almost crashed. So I decided that third place was good enough for today. My GSX-R600 was working really good, so thanks to M4 Suzuki for giving me such a great bike and to all my sponsors for their support."

M4 Suzuki Racing will race next at Heartland Park Topeka in Topeka, Kansas, the weekend of July 31-August 2, 2009.